So, they’re all dying….

Well, I was out diving again today, and as I was meditating to Pink Floyd in a 4ft swell, I thought to myself, yet again, how hard a life I have now. I truly love my husband for many reasons; but giving me the opportunity to earn a living in return for four days work a month is truly amazing!

This time was slightly harder work than normal, though, as we had Haley with us today. I must share a photo of Ha;ey with you, sometime, but for now, suffice to say that Haley is a thirteen year old American who could talk the hind legs off a donkey! More on that later!

(Image: Distorted photo taken from underwater looking up to a post. A diver with a pink mask and yellow snorkel is distorted in the foreground.)

Well, we went to Garu Island anyway, and the diving was lovely. I think I killed a needle fish. It had it’s nose stuck in a hole, and was thrashing its body. At first I thought it was hunting, but then when I saw the corals moving slightly, I realised it was stuck. So I took out my shears to gently move the corals and unstick the poor chap, at which point he promptly had a heart attack and stopped moving. I thought he was playing dead, kinda like the dying cockroaches do when the cats go to investigate their death throes – but nope, this guy was well and truly dead. We tootled off to have a gander at a nearby lion fish, and when we got back, he was still dead!

(Image: Coral reefs, with large white patches.)

Anyway, he wasn’t the only thing dead today (although hopefully the only thing I killed apart from the giant cockroach in the fridge). The reefs have suffered this summer, and coral bleaching is quite extensive this year. That’s fairly common, but this year the water temp hit 37C, which is a few degrees above normal. Oh well, they’ll grow back by next year! (The cockroaches as well as the corals, I’m sure.)